LU 042: Josée Sovinsky – The cost of denial in relation to disordered eating/compulsive exercise.

Download Episode! Lovely radicals, let me make your ears happy: Podcast ahead! In today's episode of the "Life Unrestricted." podcast, I get to talk to Josée Sovinsky from Toronto, Canada. Josée is a Registered Dietitian with French Canadian roots, who, after facing and dealing with her own struggles with disordered eating during her degree, developed a passion to help those affected by eating disorders and mental illness. She now specializes in eating disorders, intuitive eating, community nutrition and seniors' health. She holds an Honors Bachelor in Nutrition Sciences from the University of Ottawa, and she has educated herself on topics such as body-acceptance, Health at Every Size and feminism, all topics that guide her work as a non-diet, weight-inclusive, body positive and dietitian whose dreams are similar to mine: We both want to see a world free from mental health stigma, body shaming, dieting and disordered eating, where people of all sizes deserve nourishment, wellbeing and happiness. You’ll hear Josée talk about: – How she felt in her body as a little girl – Why she didn’t develop bad body image until later in life – How lucky she was to have her parents be her biggest cheerleaders – Why she felt different than other kids when she was a teenager – How studying nutrition can easily trigger disordered eating for people who feel insecure – Why she became convinced that changing her body was the way to acceptance and happiness – How exercise turned into a problem for her – Why it is so dangerous to marry the concepts of weight and exercise – Why nothing she did ever felt "good enough" – Why, for a very long time, she didn’t actually realize how disordered she had become with eating and exercise – How she never told anyone that she was struggling, so no one was suspicious – Why it is especially dangerous for nutrition students to have their struggles go undetected for way too long – What her deepest fears were when she considered opening up about her struggles – What her own denial looked like – What it was that made her realize that what she went through was a serious thing – Where she first came across body positivity and the non-diet-approach – What’s wrong with official guidelines regarding diabetes and weight – Why she thinks no one who adopted the Health at Every Size (HAES) model ever turned back – Why it is so important to recognize that neither fame, money, looks or any other source of potential outside approval will ever be enough to fill a void that exists in our soul (no matter what advertisement, movies or media might make us believe!) – Why it is so easy to fall into the trap of comparing our insides to other people’s "performance of happy" – What the steps to true healing can look like (and what the key ingredients are) – Why she decided to truly take a break from exercise, and why this could be key for all of us who struggle with divorcing the concepts of weight and exercise – Why accepting size-diversity is the key to healing our relationship to food and weight – How she introduces the concept of Health At Every Size to women who haven’t heard of it before – Why facing our fears is key (even if remaining in a disordered place might feel "easier") – How to become aware of the different ways our inner Gremlin pushes us into behaviors that don’t serve us and our recovery – Why opening up about our struggles contributes to healing on a much larger scale... ... And so much more! Check out Josée and her work here: www.joseesovinskynutrition.com Like the podcast? Great! Do subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid; Please consider supporting the podcast with a donation on "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/